The scene was a plain, bare, monotonous vault of a school-room, and the speaker’s square

forefinger emphasised his observations by underscoring every sentence with a line on the
schoolmaster’s sleeve. The emphasis was helped by the speaker’s square wall of a forehead,
which had his eyebrows for its base, while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark
caves, overshadowed by the wall. The emphasis was helped by the speaker’s mouth, which was
wide, thin, and hard set. The emphasis was helped by the speaker’s voice, which was inflexible,
dry, and dictatorial.

Hard Times, Charles Dickens

Scena era o boltă simplă, goală, monotonă a unei săli de școală, iar degetul
pătrat al vorbitorului îi sublinia observațiile subliniind fiecare propoziție
cu o linie pe mâneca profesorului. Accentuarea a fost ajutată de peretele
pătrat al unei frunți al vorbitorului, care avea sprâncenele sale ca bază, în
timp ce ochii lui au găsit o pivniță comodă în două peșteri întunecate,
umbrite de zid. Accentul a fost ajutat de gura vorbitorului, care era lată,
subțire și dur. Accentul a fost ajutat de vocea vorbitorului, care era
inflexibilă, secă și dictatorială.

Vremuri grele, Charles Dickens

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth
but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and
climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Când mă trezesc, cealaltă parte a patului este rece. Degetele îmi întind,
căutând căldura lui Prim, dar găsind doar husa de pânză aspră a saltelei.
Probabil că a avut vise urâte și s-a urcat cu mama noastră. Desigur, a făcut-
o. Aceasta este ziua seceririi.

Jocurile foamei, Suzanne Collins

The morning is still cold and dark when we walk out to the vehicle. It’s Central Australia’s way
of telling us we shouldn’t be outside yet. But Nigel’s pick-up splutters to life and the headlight
beams reveal that the outback bushland is still there, spinifex grass being tousled by the pre-
dawn wind. He begins driving, and within ten minutes we’ve parked up at the foot of Kings
Canyon.

An Alternative to Uluru, Ben Lerwill

Dimineața este încă rece și întunecată când mergem spre vehicul. Este modul
Australiei Centrale de a ne spune că nu ar trebui să fim încă afară. Dar pick-
up-ul lui Nigel prinde viață, iar razele farurilor dezvăluie că tufișul din
interiorul zonei este încă acolo, iarba spinifex fiind ciufulită de vântul
dinainte de zori. Începe să conducă și în zece minute am parcat la poalele
Kings Canyon.

O alternativă la Uluru, Ben Lerwill

I knew it was going to be sunny that day. The clouds might have been on holiday themselves as it was so
hot and the beach was so crowded. I bought a lot of ice cream and sat down on the pebbles.
Știam că va fi soare în acea zi. Este posibil ca norii să fi fost în vacanță,
deoarece era atât de cald și plaja era atât de aglomerată. Am cumpărat multă
înghețată și m-am așezat pe pietricele.

EXEMPLE

In this opening from Margaret Atwood’s novel Alias Grace, the main character Grace describes
a dream-like vision.

What is the effect of the language choices in this extract?

Out of the gravel there are peonies growing. They come up through the loose grey pebbles, their
buds testing the air like snails’ eyes, then swelling and opening, huge dark-red flowers all
shining and glossy like satin. Then they burst and fall to the ground.

In the one instant before they come apart they are like the peonies in the front garden at Mr.
Kinnear’s, that first day, only those were white. Nancy is cutting them. She wore a pale dress
with pink rosebuds and a triple-flounced skirt, and a straw bonnet that hid her face. She carried a
flat basket, to put the flower in; she bent from the hips like a lady, holding her waist straight.
When she heard us and turned to look, she put her hand up to her throat as if startled.

Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood

Din pietriș cresc bujori. Ei vin printre pietricelele cenușii libere, mugurii
lor încercând aerul ca ochii melcilor, apoi umflându-se și deschizându-se,
flori uriașe roșu-închis, toate strălucitoare și lucioase ca satinul. Apoi au
izbucnit și cad la pământ.

Într-o clipă înainte de a se destrama, ei sunt ca bujorii din grădina din față
la domnul Kinnear, în prima zi, doar aceia erau albi. Nancy le taie. Purta o
rochie palidă, cu boboci de trandafiri roz și o fustă cu trei voluri și o
bonetă de paie care îi ascundea fața. Ea ducea un coș plat, în care să pună
floarea; se aplecă din șolduri ca o doamnă, ținându-și talia dreaptă. Când ne-
a auzit și s-a întors să se uite, și-a dus mâna la gât, parcă surprinsă.

Analysis notes
 The frequent use of ‘ing’ verbs in the opening paragraph gives the flowers a sinister energy and movement:
“…growing…testing…swelling…opening…shining…”.
 The writer’s choice of language to describe the flowers gives the setting a dream-like appearance.
 The strange simile “...testing the air like snails’ eyes…” adds to the dream-like feel.
 The motif of the peonies seems particularly important and the writer gives them a symbolic significance.
For example, the peonies at the start are "dark-red", but in the next paragraph "…those were white."
 The white peonies, perhaps symbolising innocence, are linked to the character of Nancy. This image of
innocence is reinforced by the "pale dress with pink rosebuds."
 The character of Nancy has her clothes described in detail: “..triple-flounced skirt, and a straw bonnet…”
This links to the simile “…like a lady…” and suggests that the character of Nancy is elegant and well-
dressed.
 The flowers are linked to the feminine here, but there is also a sinister mood linked to the red peonies. This
sinister mood is reinforced by the phrase “…as if startled.”
 The calm image of a woman cutting flowers is contrasted with the disturbing image of the red peonies. The
effect may unsettle the reader.
 Example

 This extract is taken from a short story called Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing. In
this section the character of Jerry, an 11-year-old boy, attempts to swim through a long
underwater tunnel.
 How has the writer structured this text to increase the sense of tension?

A hundred, a hundred and one…The water paled. Victory filled him. His lungs were
beginning to hurt. A few more strokes and he would be out. He was counting wildly; he
said a hundred and fifteen, and then a long time later, a hundred and fifteen again. The
water was a clear jewel-green all around him. Then he saw, above his head, a crack
running up through the rock. Sunlight was falling through it, showing the clean, dark rock
of the tunnel, a single mussel shell, and darkness ahead.

He was at the end of what he could do. He looked up at the crack as if it were filled with
air and not water, as if he could put his mouth to it to draw in air. A hundred and fifteen,
he heard himself say inside his head---but he had said that long ago. He must go on into
the blackness ahead, or he would drown. His head was swelling, his lungs cracking. A
hundred and fifteen, a hundred and fifteen pounded through his head, and he feebly
clutched at rocks in the dark, pulling himself forward, leaving the brief space of sunlit
water behind. He felt he was dying. He was no longer conscious. He struggled on in the
darkness between lapses into unconsciousness. An immense, swelling pain filled his
head, and then darkness cracked with an explosion of green light. His hands, groping
forward, met nothing; and his feet, kicking back, propelled him out into the open sea. He
drifted to the surface, his face turned up to the air. He was gasping like a fish. He felt he
would sink now and drown; he could not swim the few feet back to the rock. Then he was
clutching it and pulling himself up on to it. He lay face down, gasping.

Through the Tunnel, Doris Lessing

O sută, o sută unu... Apa păli. Victoria l-a umplut. Plămânii începeau să-l
doară. Încă câteva lovituri și ar fi plecat. Număra sălbatic; spuse o sută
cincisprezece, apoi mult timp mai târziu, iar o sută cincisprezece. Apa era un
verde limpede ca o bijuterie peste tot în jurul lui. Apoi a văzut, deasupra
capului său, o crăpătură care curgea prin stâncă. Lumina soarelui cădea prin
ea, arătând stânca curată și întunecată a tunelului, o singură scoică de midii
și întunericul în față.

Era la sfârșitul a ceea ce putea face. S-a uitat în sus la crăpătură de parcă
ar fi fost plină de aer și nu de apă, de parcă ar fi putut să-și pună gura în
ea pentru a atrage aer. O sută cincisprezece, se auzi spunând în capul lui ---
dar spusese asta cu mult timp în urmă. Trebuie să meargă mai departe în
întunericul din față, altfel s-ar îneca. Capul i se umfla, plămânii îi
trosneau. O sută cincisprezece, o sută cincisprezece i-au bătut capul, iar el
s-a strâns slab de stânci în întuneric, trăgându-se înainte, lăsând în urmă
scurtul spațiu de apă luminată de soare. Simțea că moare. Nu mai era
conștient. S-a luptat mai departe în întuneric între căderi în inconștiență. O
durere imensă, umflată, i-a umplut capul, iar apoi întunericul a crăpat cu o
explozie de lumină verde. Mâinile lui, bâjbâind înainte, nu întâlniră nimic;
iar picioarele lui, dându-se înapoi, l-au împins în larg. A plutit la
suprafață, cu fața ridicată în aer. Gâfâia ca un pește. Simțea că se va
scufunda acum și se va îneca; nu putea înota cei câţiva paşi înapoi până la
stâncă. Apoi s-a strâns de el și s-a tras de el. S-a întins cu fața în jos,
gâfâind.

Prin tunel, Doris Lessing

Analysis

 The structure of the text allows the reader to share the boy’s journey through the tunnel
and follow his physical and emotional conflict.
 In the first paragraph the boy thinks that he has made it to the end of the tunnel: “Victory
filled him.” This short, single clause sentence has a dramatic effect and shows the reader
his excitement.
 When the reader realises that he has not reached the end, the tension is increased and the
reader reaches the crisis point in the text.
 The boy seems to have run out of strength: “He was at the end of what he could do.”
 The writer includes the character’s counting to increase the tension at different points in
the text.
 The counting shows the boy’s different states of mind, at first the number goes up to
show his control.
 Then he is "counting wildly" when he thinks he is at the end of the tunnel.
 The counting stops to show the reader that he is starting to lose focus and strength: “A
hundred and fifteen, a hundred and fifteen…” The repetition of a hundred and fifteen
shows the boy’s confusion and increases the tension.
 Dramatic single clause sentences in the last paragraph add to the suspense: “He felt he
was dying. He was no longer conscious.”
 The repetition of “…darkness ahead…blackness ahead…darkness cracked…” makes the
reader feel like the dark represents death and the light symbolises life.
 The whole extract is structured around the physical effects of not having enough air: “…
swelling…cracking…gasping.”
 The position of the verb "gasping" at the end of the final sentence has the effect of
releasing the tension as the reader realises the boy will survive.